rulespin
Paul Kruger is a PGA professional at The
Landings Club in Savannah, Georgia.
by Paul Kruger
Give or take a second or two,
that was the amount of time it
took Jordan Spieth to play the par-
4 13th hole during the final round
of the 2017 Open Championship
at Royal Birkdale. Why did it take
so long? Because he first decided
to take relief for an unplayable
lie after a wayward drive, and
then he had to take relief from a
temporary immovable obstruction.
Both of these relief procedures
were complicated by the fact that
sighting of the hole was obstructed
by a tall sand dune. With the help
of several images courtesy of NBC
Sports, here are the salient points
of the applicable Rules that helped
Jordan on his way to hoisting the
Claret Jug:
• After Jordan briefly studied
the lie of his ball on the backside
of the dune, he started thinking
about proceeding under Rule 28
[Ball Unplayable]. One option
under this Rule is to play again
from where the original ball was
last played. Jordan did not want
to return to the teeing ground,
giving up the yardage in addition
to incurring a penalty stroke. Nor
did he like another option of Rule
28 which would have been to drop
within two club-lengths of, and not
nearer the hole than, where his drive
came to rest. This option was not
appealing due to the severe slope of
the dune and the thick rough in the
vicinity of his ball. Thus, he wisely
considered the option of dropping
on the line extending from the hole
through the spot where his ball lay,
going as far back on the course as
he wanted. Not too far behind the
steep sand dune happened to be
the Royal Birkdale practice area,
offering a perfect lie with level and
closely mown turf. The attending
Rules Official confirmed that the
practice area was in bounds, which
meant that Jordan could drop
within that area.
• The only problem with
dropping in that area, and staying
within a reachable distance from
the hole, was the fact that several
large equipment trucks were
parked at the side of the practice
area where Jordan wished to
drop his ball. By the way, those
trucks were temporary immovable
obstructions from which Jordan
knew that he would subsequently
obtain relief, but more about those
later. The immediate task was to
take relief from the unplayable ball
by dropping on the line extending
from the hole through the spot
where his original ball had come
to rest. But how could he possibly
drop a ball from shoulder height
under a locked truck?
Thanks to Decision 1-4/8.5
[Nearest Point of Relief from Cart
Path Is in Casual Water, Nearest
Point of Relief from Casual Water
Is Back on Cart Path; Impracticable
for Player to Drop Ball into Area
of Casual Water], Jordan was not
required to drop a ball within one
of the semi-trailer trucks. This
Decision states, in relevant part,
“Other examples of conditions
into which it would be considered
impracticable for the player to
drop the ball would include … in
or under an immovable obstruction
such that it would be extremely
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